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Caraval (Caraval, #1)

Stephanie Garber

Start date: May 1, 2017

Finish date: May 31, 2017

Discussion: Read

Why we're reading this: It won the BOTM Poll.
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What Members Thought

Apr 22, 2017 Cynthia rated it it was amazing

Shelves: own

This book went so fast! You feel like you are really a part of the Caraval Game! I look forward to the next book, and I hope it is out very soon!!!!

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Sep 09, 2018 Jennifer Rodriguez rated it it was amazing

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Little miss Scarlett has been sending letters to Legend every year for 7 years begging him to come to Trisda so her sister and her can see the perfomance. Scarlett and Tella are the daughters of the Govenor of the island who is a controlling and abusive ass (excuse my french). You learn that their mother left them when they were young and their father began sheltering them and abusing them ever since. Their grandmother use to tell them tales of Caraval and Legends performances. Now I must ad Little miss Scarlett has been sending letters to Legend every year for 7 years begging him to come to Trisda so her sister and her can see the perfomance. Scarlett and Tella are the daughters of the Govenor of the island who is a controlling and abusive ass (excuse my french). You learn that their mother left them when they were young and their father began sheltering them and abusing them ever since. Their grandmother use to tell them tales of Caraval and Legends performances. Now I must admit that I did not think for once that the grandmother would turn out to be the woman who broke Legends heart. I actually loved that link that brought Legend and the Sisters together, because why else would Legend help them. Anyway the Tella and Julian end up tricking Scarlett, kidnapping her and taking her to Caraval. Scarlett is to be married to the Count and did not want to risk her father being angry with them and doing something terrible to either her or her sister.

Tella ends up getting taken by Legend and becomes part of the game this year. Whoever finds Tella first gets one wish! I knew this was all and elaborate plot for Scarlett, but I must admit that as the story progressed and you find out that the grandmother was the one to break Legends heart, I truly thought he was just seeking revenge on her granddaughters. Stephanie did a great job and hiding the true reason for the game. Julian ended up being another surprise to me. Legend's Brother!!! I would have never thought. Once Scarlett finds out that Julian was apart of the game to begin with, she is upset and thinks that his feelings for her were also a lie. This part kinda pissed me off. Authors do that a lot were they make a character believe that because their partner deceived them (for good reason) that their true feelings for them must also be a lie (urghhh).

Now when you find out at the end that Tella was behind the whole thing and also had sent Legend a letter, I must say I was mind blown. Stephanie had me truly believe that Tella was to immature and wild to come up with something this elaborate. The one who truly wanted to help her sister and rid themselves of their father once and for all. When she jumped out the window and died i literally cried. I truly thought that she had killed herself to save her sister. I wanted to yell at the author through the book! This book had me at the edge of my seat but I also fell in love with the love story unraveling between Julian and Scarlett and was happy to see that Legend wasn't as bad as they said. One thing I will say is that I knew that Legend was not going to show his true self to any of them. You didn't get me on that one Stephanie Garber! I would absolutely rate this book 5 huge stars! ...more

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Mar 16, 2018 Jessica Burchett rated it it was amazing

When I read that people were comparing this to Erin Morgenstern's The Night Circus, I wasn't sure I wanted to read it. How could something comparable actually live up to the allusion?

Then it went on sale and I thought, why not? The first couple pages, I was certain I was going to be disappointed and put it aside before I could update my "Currently Reading" on Goodreads. But before I could change my mind about the book, I was swept away into the story, into the game.

What a ride. I guess you *co When I read that people were comparing this to Erin Morgenstern's The Night Circus, I wasn't sure I wanted to read it. How could something comparable actually live up to the allusion?

Then it went on sale and I thought, why not? The first couple pages, I was certain I was going to be disappointed and put it aside before I could update my "Currently Reading" on Goodreads. But before I could change my mind about the book, I was swept away into the story, into the game.

What a ride. I guess you *could* compare it to The Night Circus, but this is not a copycat. It did have parts that could possibly be compared to it, but it also had parts that reminded me of The Labyrinth, and that is no small compliment. I adored this book. It's safe to say, this is in my top 20. I can't wait for the next installment to come out in May. It's that good. Most of the time when I read a book and there's "more to come," I say I am going to get around to reading more, but usually never do unless I have the rest on hand already or unless they go on sale. May 29, 2018, I will be purchasing and reading Legendary.

The story follows Scarlett and her sister, Donatella, as they make a daring, albeit clumsy, escape from their dictator and violent father. The backstory is their mother left him, disappearing, assumably never to be seen again, and that changed him. But they get tickets to Caraval, and not just any tickets, personalized tickets. Scarlett is engaged to a Count she's never met, and to her, it seems like the only surety of safety, assuming that once she is married to this man she'll be able to sweep her sister away as well, never to be hurt by their father again.

But Donatella has other plans, and she forces Scarlett's hand when it comes to going to Caraval, despite possibly interfering with Scarlett's impending marriage. When Scarlett gets to Caraval, she discovers that nothing is what she expected, and also never quite what they seem. Having lost her sister to the magical game, she sets off in search for Donatella, with the hesitant help of Julian, who may or may not be what he seems.

It was a beautifully written story, and I felt like I was caught up in the world-building and the magic and the beauty and the mystery and the suspense. I could hardly put it down once it caught me in its grasp. Highly, highly recommended. ...more

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May 09, 2019 Madge rated it it was ok

Shelves: books-i-wish-i-never-read, fantasy, young-adult, one-and-a-half-stars

I went into this thinking my expectations were as low as they can go (because I've seen people either absolutely love it, or absolutely hate it), and I was still disappointed. I didn't hate it, but I really didn't like a lot about it. I need a drink. I might write an actual review for this one soon, but it will definitely be spoiler-y because I have a lot of thoughts. I just need to try to arrange them in a way that makes sense to other people. ...more

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Jan 16, 2018 kathy rated it liked it

Shelves: gcac-2018

Scarlett and Donatella (Tella) are sisters who end up in Caraval for very different reasons. Scarlett is kidnapped by her sister and taken to the isle where Caraval's mysteries unfold. As soon as she arrives she becomes aware that Tella has been kidnapped by Legend, the master of Caraval. It is up to Scarlett to find her before the end of Caraval or Tella will die. ...more

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